sanctuary

Monday, November 21, 2016

I thought a colleague of
mine was putting me on recently when he told me that the Trump family
had been peddling products and advertising their family businesses
on a dot gov web site. Ivanka herself was marketing her $10,000
bracelet. I discovered it was true. The site came down after a few
days. I guess someone realized it was not a subtle way to begin the
four year scam.

This is a family of rich
grifters … and that's why they're liked by so many Americans. It
doesn't matter if the Donald is a billionaire (thanks to daddy) along
with numerous conflicts of interest, deadbeat morality and totally
unqualified to be town dog catcher let alone the President of the
United States.

America he's ours—certainly
for a large percentage of white people--and we want to believe he's
revenge on the “ruling class,” which ruling class of course
depends on your point of view. Donald is going to make America “great
again.” I may be wrong but did anyone among our corporate
info-entertainers over this past dismal year ask him “when”
America was great? But hell, who cares. Right?

The rational worldview

People I know have told me I
need to be patient. After all, Trump did win the presidency fair and
square. Let's wait and see what he does before we react. We need to
bring the country together in order to move forward. The opposition
needs to accept this fact. Unless you have demonstrable proof that
the election was “stolen” get it line and support America. Forget
the blather about Hillary having more of the popular vote than Trump;
Mr. Trump clearly won within the current system.

I refuse to participate in
this process of organized amnesia, to cooperate in normalizing a man
who stands for everything America should not.

(Leonard Pitts Jr.,
journalist)

The Lord of Mordor

I've been following a
particular social media site very much in opposition to Donald Trump.
I've read with interest a lengthy thread dealing with trolls,
insulting remarks and how best to handle individuals who do this.

What struck me while reading
many of the comments was the naivete of so many, well meaning and
committed individuals who are against Trump. Nasty individuals,
however, mocking liberals is the least of our worries. Steve Bannon,
the Donald's Rasputin in the new White House, has little interest in
what you think about damn near anything. It will likely get so much
worse and we have no time for a lengthy learning curve or being
shocked or upset by troglodytes.

Less we forget, the Cult
controls Congress. The list is long. Characters like Paul Ryan think
their libertarian college boy dream can soon become a reality. You
gonna stop it? In addition to the ACA they're coming after Medicare,
Medicaid, Social Security, the environment, which includes national
parks and wildlife. Women your place is in the kitchen barefoot and
pregnant. Hell, some 53% of white women voted for Donald. What
happened to the last forty years or so? Trickle down economics is
back with a vengeance. Oh yes, tax cuts for the parasite class is the
wave of the future. After all, they're clearly your betters and
struggle is good for you. Serfdom has some good aspects because
you'll know what to do day after day after day. You just do what
you're told. First amendment, well, we may have to cut back a bit in
order to make America great. Now the “other” people, you know who
you are. You've got to understand who runs this country, and realize
who is on top of the dung heap, sort of like the natural order of
things. Best of all we're going to have guns and more guns
everywhere—hospitals, schools, churches and conveniently you'll be
able to buy them in a Quick Trip or maybe a 7Eleven, hell, Hobby
Lobby possibly, who knows and no waiting time. An educated citizenry?
Well, there is too much thinking going on in this country. A well run
country can't really have educated citizens. And there is so much
more. I bet Russia could be our closest ally because we'll have so
much in common. Imagine, we could give a select group of angry white
people brown and black shirts and they could earn merit badges and
move up in the ranks. I know, it's an old idea, but we could reduce
unemployment to zero and have a lot of torchlight parades and be
proud Americans again. Be happy, don't worry citizens, you're not in
a dream....

I'm going to a restaurant
tonight. It's owned by Muslims. Last week white nationalist Orcs
smashed some windows and wrote graffiti on the walls. This
approachingKristallnacht we better not ignore or worry that we might
upset the Cult. We can apologize profusely and promise to work
together if Trump and company do not turn out to be a collection of
ignorant, undemocratic thugs that want to turn the clock back to some
mythical and exclusive white boy paradise.

This is not going to be a
gentle struggle or a weekend beating of drums, chants and inspiring
folk music. The thread for how we got here goes back to the very
beginning of this country founded on slavery, racism, genocide,
predatory capitalism, Social Darwinism, total disrespect for the
natural world and “I got mine.” Now the monsters have been
unleashed. Be grateful for what you have and realize and understand
what and why you have it and be clear that you're not alone or
powerless. Make this Thanksgiving a time to commit to a much better
country.

And suddenly the mirror
went altogether dark, as dark as if a hole had opened in the world of
sight, and Frodo looked into emptiness....

(Frodo seeing Sauron, in
the Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien)

Monday, November 14, 2016

Democracy is beautiful in
theory, in practice it is a fallacy. You in America will see that
some day.

(Benito Mussolini, leader
of National Fascist Party, 1922-1943)

I love the old days—you
know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place
like this? They'd be carried out on a stretcher folks … I'd like to
punch him in the face.

(Donald Trump, discussing
a protester this past February being dragged out of a Trump rally)

The 60's redux

I remember in graduate
school writing a paper on the late Mario Savio, the leader of the
Berkeley Free Speech Movement in 1964. My professor, an Englishman
who had fought the Nazis at Dunkirk, thought the paper was “well
written” but its premise naive. It was certainly naive, in the
sense that soaring rhetoric, lofty idealism and mere protests would
quickly cause the “establishment”-any establishment—to crumble
before our eyes. Of course, positive change did eventually occur in a
great many areas, but over time through a lot of hard work, a lot of
creative thinking, a lot of sacrifice ... and a lot of pain.

The victor will never be
asked if he told the truth.

(Adolf Hitler)

What it is for the moment

It was by definition
Populism, a mixed picture in American history. (See The globalboneyard.) Whether or not Donald Trump has the slightest idea what
Populism is, he talked about change, creating jobs and “throwing
out the rascals.” These slogans have worked in America for over 200
years.

According to the polls (for
all that means), the voters had pretty much made up their minds by
September and Trump had a very, very good chance of becoming
president, although Clinton and the Democratic strategists, in
hindsight, remained largely clueless, in itself a reason to gut the
Democratic party or turn it inside out.

At the moment the Democrats
control virtually nothing. We know what has happened at the national
level but how many of us know that the majority of state legislatures
and governorships are controlled by the Cult. We are knee deep in the
effluent—meaning “crap.” It matters a great deal ultimately
what we end up doing, from the town council on up to the presidency.
What we do have are many of the cities and that matters a great deal,
an article unto itself.

You got 9 weeks

For the time being we have
to take the Donald mostly at his word. No, I don't think all the
nonsense that Trump uttered during the campaign is going to get
implemented and become law, but in the short-term America is going to
become coarser, uglier, less democratic and increasingly unpleasant
for perhaps a majority of Americans.

For many Americans, their
real education is about to begin. Presidents have significant power
in issuing Executive Orders, requiring no advice and consent of
Congress. As well, they have the power to undo Executive Orders
implemented by their predecessor, in this case President Obama. But
there is so much more being talked about already in the
Cult-controlled Congress.

Make no mistake; they are
going for everything as fast as possible. The unspoken belief is that the Cult really can take us back to the “good old days.” Best be
aware and best be prepared for what is to come. Wisdom, intelligence,
discipline and awareness will, in a few weeks, be worth all the money
in the U.S. Treasury. Pull up your bootstraps America and get ready
to listen to your “betters.”

We have basically nine weeks
to create the beginning of an organization, at the national level as
well as at the state and local level. A good place to start is
learning how government works at all levels and how ideas become
laws. We could begin by talking to those politicians that actually
make the laws. It is much more than anger and righteous indignation
that will bring about the changes we want.

The good news is that the
wailing and gnashing of teeth appears to be short lived; therefore,
we can get on with the business at hand. Some 59 million people voted
for Trump. We have millions of potential customers if we learn how to
close the deal. How much incentive do you need?Economic America: A delusion wrapped in an illusion

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Wednesday, November 02, 2016

While stitching a cut on the hand of a 75 year old farmer, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Donald Trump...and his role as the Republican Nominee for President. The old farmer said, " Well, as I see it, Donald Trump is like a 'Post Tortoise'.'' Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post tortoise' was. The old farmer said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that's a post tortoise." The old farmer saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, he's elevated beyond his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with."

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About Me

"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes--something known only to her and to the mountains." (Aldo Leopold, "Thinking Like a Mountain")
"We are the rich. We own America. We got it, God knows how, but we intend to keep it." (Frederick Townsend Martin, 19th century plutocrat)